UK - New Year, New Targets, New Rules << Back to Main News Page Added: Thursday, 12 January 2006 2006 starts with new, higher recycling & recovery targets issued by Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Scottish Executive. Within the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive 2004/12/EC, the UK is required to recycle more packaging by 2008.This increase will be felt across all waste packaging with the implication for plastic being a slight increase in this year’s target c.430kt and about 490kt in 2008. 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Plastics Recycling % 23 24 24.5 25 25.5 Overall Recovery % 66 67 68 69 70 Minimum Recovery by Recycling % 92 92 92 92 92 Packaging recovery and recycling business targets (%) In moves to spread the targets across individual businesses, a change to obligate franchisers, licensors and pub operating businesses is being made, further focusing the importance of waste reduction, recycling and recovery at every level. These changes to UK producer responsibility regulations will make more companies responsible for paying for packaging waste to be recycled. Ministers said companies dealing with leased packaging – such as pallets and crates – as well as franchise businesses will be included among those with obligations to pay for packaging recovery. Overall recycling of packaging waste has nearly doubled since regulations were first introduced in 1997. The changes announced will keep the UK on track to meeting its European obligations by 2008. Compliance As part of the regulatory changes, it will become possible for Ministers to give 'conditional approval’ to compliance schemes that fell short of their targets in the previous year, provided the grounds for this are just acceptable. The 'conditional approval' fee has been amended, however compliance schemes will not have to re-apply annually for approval from Ministers. Those schemes and large individually registered producers handling more than 500 tonnes of packaging will be required to send their operational plans to Defra, or the Scottish Executive by 31 January, as well as to the relevant Agency. It has also been confirmed that some of the administrative and cost burden would be eased for smaller businesses following the proposal to simplify small businesses' data requirement However controversially it was confirmed earlier in 2005 that, whilst the scene is set for ‘producer responsibility’ obligations going forward, the Environment Agency have not yet taken any formal action over packaging compliance schemes or companies that failed to meet their producer responsibility obligations in 2004. The agency revealed that four compliance schemes and 34 packaging producers had not met with the standards required to merit certificates of compliance. For more details on the revised recycling & recovery targets & compliance please visit: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/packaging/index.htm http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waste/